The Karnali province government has finally initiated reconstruction of earthquake-damaged buildings of community schools and health institutions a year after the disaster.

The magnitude 6.4 earthquake with its epicentre at Baredanda of Jajarkot district damaged scores of buildings belonging to community schools and health institutions in Jajarkot, Rukum West and Salyan districts on November 3 last year.

The provincial Ministry of Physical Infrastructures and Urban Development allocated Rs500 million in the current fiscal year of 2024-25 for the reconstruction of the quake-damaged public buildings, which includes various community schools and health institutions. Of the total sum, Rs250 million has been allocated for Jajarkot, Rs220 million for Rukum West and Rs30 million for Salyan.

Although the ministry aims to complete the reconstruction by the current fiscal year, progress has been slow.

Ramesh Subedi, spokesperson at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructures and Urban Development, said that reconstruction process of earthquake-ravaged schools and health institutions began after the provincial Council of Ministers approved the Reconstruction of Earthquake-damaged School and Health Institution Programme (Operation and Management) Guidelines-2024 last month. According to Subedi, the project recommendation committee has already sent its report to the ministry by identifying damaged buildings of schools and health institutions requiring reconstruction.

The committees, formed in the earthquake-hit districts of Jajarkot, Rukum West and Salyan, are led by the chief of the District Coordination Committee and includes the chief district officer, chief of education development and coordination unit, chief of social development office, chief of health unit office and chief of the residence and building section of the respective district. The committees submitted their reports prioritsing projects based on the extent of the damage caused.

In Jajarkot, the recommendation committee selected 39 projects for the reconstruction of the damaged community schools and health institutions. Similarly, 33 projects were selected in Rukum West while five projects were chosen in Salyan.

“The Ministry of Physical Infrastructures and Urban Development will shortly finalise the projects for reconstruction and proceed for its implementation. The infrastructure development office of each district will call for tenders within a few days,” said Subedi. He said that the ministry prioritised community schools where learning/teaching has been hugely affected and health institutions where health services have been severely impacted.

The ministry, according to Subedi, selects those reconstruction projects that meet the criteria of Reconstruction of Earthquake-damaged School and Health Institution Programme (Operation and Management) Guidelines 2024. The guidelines state that only the reconstruction projects that can be completed by the end of the current fiscal year will be selected. The guidelines have set a budget ceiling as well—up to Rs7.5 million for a school building and up to Rs5 million for a health institution.

The earthquake ravaged hundreds of public and community buildings in Jajarkot, Rukum West and Salyan. According to the Karnali Province Health Directorate, six health institutions were completely destroyed while 12 others sustained partial damage in Jajarkot. Likewise, two health institutions were completely destroyed while 22 were partially damaged in Rukum West. In Salyan, the quake destroyed three health institutions while 42 others incurred partial damage.

According to the Social Development Ministry in Karnali, buildings of 143 schools in Jajarkot and 40 schools in Rukum West were completely destroyed by last year’s earthquake. A total of 206 school buildings in Jajarkot and 213 school buildings in Rukum West incurred partial damage in the disaster.

The earthquake hit Jajarkot and Rukum West and affected some areas in Salyan, damaging hundreds of public buildings. There have been at least 157 reported deaths from Jajarkot and Rukum West, officials said. According to Karnali Provincial Police, some 34,501 houses were destroyed in Jajarkot and 16,909 houses in Rukum West. In Salyan, over 4,600 homes were ravaged in the earthquake.

Many displaced families are still languishing under poorly built huts, exposing them to cold related illnesses in winter. The delay in the rehabilitation of the displaced families has reportedly caused over three dozen deaths among earthquake-displaced people, mainly elderly and minors in Jajarkot and Rukum West.